Dow Has Best Month Since 2002

More good news. This time it involves the Dow Jones Industrial Average, or Dow.

Dow Has Best Month since 2002
The Dow Jones Industrial Average, which is an average of 30 large stocks, had its best performing month ever since 2002, and it was the first positive monthly increase in almost a year!

Overall Tuesday Results
Overall Tuesday, the Dow rose 86.9 points, or 1.2%, to 7608.92, driven by gains in banking stocks and software maker Microsoft. For the month, the Dow rose 7.7%, its biggest monthly gain since October 2002, which turned out to be the start of the last bull market. Tuesday, the broader Standard & Poor's 500 index increased by 1.31% or 10.34, or 1.31%, to 797.87.
We still have a ways to go, but I believe that we have bottomed out and have already started our very slow crawl out of this hole.

Good Economic News for the Real Estate Industry

New durable goods orders increased in February of 2009 and new home sales in the U.S. rebounded by 22.2%. This economic data indicates that the economic downturn is easing. The US Department of Commerce said that durable goods orders rose 3.40% (up $165.6 billion) in February of 2009. This rise in durable goods orders represents the largest increase in durable goods orders since December of 2007. So, there you have it. The sky is no longer falling! We have made it past the worst part of the economic cycle. We certainly have a long way to go, but it is not as bad as the media has been reporting.

President Obama Claims Early Progress in Economic Battle

President Barack Obama claimed early progress in his aggressive campaign to lead the nation out of economic chaos and declared that despite obstacles ahead, "we're moving in the right direction."

New 1031 Exchange Investment Firm Launched: Savage Bryan Investments

Another positive indication that our California real estate market is transforming itself faster than the real estate analysts believe. Lewis Savage and Adam Bryan announced last week the launch of their new 1031 exchange investment services company under the name of: Savage Bryan Investments.

Lew and Adam were both former executives at SCI Real Estate Investments and bring an incredible wealth of commercial real estate investment experience to the market place.

Trademarks/Trade Names Can Qualify for 1031 Tax Deferred Exchange

Great news from the IRS. How many times do you hear that one?

IRS Reverses Its Position
Anyway, the IRS reversed its position on the 1031 tax deferred exchange of trademarks and trade names as to whether or not trademarks and tradenames would qualify for a 1031 tax deferred exchange.

IRS Previously Says No
Previously, the IRS had said no by taking a position in its Technical Advice Memorandum 200602034 (TAM 200602034) that Goodwill in fact DID NOT qualify for 1031 tax deferred exchange treatment. Generally, the IRS had previously taken the position that trademarks and trade names were included in the definition of Goodwill and therefore were excluded from 1031 tax deferred exchange treatment.

IRS Now Says Yes
The Internal Revenue Service just released its Technical Advice Memorandum 200911006 (TAM 200911006) that changes course and takes the position that trademarks and trade names will be considered separate and apart from Goodwill and will now qualify for 1031 tax deferred exchange treatment.

Terrific news, especially for those investors that are selling businesses with trademarks and trade names.